Mogherini however warned that “concrete steps” were needed before there could be any progress on Ankara’s long-stalled candidacy. “Clearly Turkey is and stays a candidate country,” Mogherini said after meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik in Brussels. The negotiations came to a virtual halt last year as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rounded up opponents in a massive crackdown after a failed coup. In December, EU member states agreed that no new accession chapters would be opened until Ankara reversed course.